2017 F1 cars are not designed for sizeable kerbs – Verstappen

Formula 1 young sensation, Max Verstappen said the kerbs at the Red Bull Ring aren’t accurate for current F1 car following running over them during Friday practice.

For this season’s Red Bull Ring event, extensive sausage kerbs are in place at the exit of Turns 1 and 3, while rows of white and yellow mounds are in place at Turns 6, 8, 9 and 10.

Some drivers, including Verstappen, ran over them during Friday’s practice sessions, with Haas’ Romain Grosjean sustaining a puncture on impact. Also, Williams duo incurred damage after running wide at turn nine.

Last year Verstappen suffered a suspension failure when he ran over the circuit’s kerbs. During qualifying Daniil Kvyat crashed due to a suspension failure caused by hitting one of the kerbs.

“The yellow kerbs again,” said Verstappen, when asked about what challenges he faced in FP1 and FP2, adding, “luckily there was not too much damage” when he went off.

“I think it’s just not a kerb for a Formula 1 car, the cars are not designed for it.”

The Dutch man made his first day of practice fourth fastest, 0.349s off pace-setting Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton, having been delayed by a spark plug issue early in FP2.

“At the beginning of second practice, one connector was not connected for the brakes, so we had to take the floor off again, but from there on it was not too bad,” he said.

“At the end of the day I did more or less the programme I wanted to do. I’m not fully happy about the balance we had, but we are not too far off.”

Red Bull team-mate Daniel Ricciardo set fifth fastest just 0.041s behind the Verstappen’s best, was also delayed by a technical problem in FP2, related to his Turbo Charger, preventing him from completing a race simulation.

“I think Baku was a good one, and today relatively it seemed OK, so let’s see how we go tomorrow,” he commented, having won last time out in Azerbaijan.

“I didn’t really get to do a long run, as we had couple of issues, but otherwise it was a smooth day.”